


Fairytale

by FrazzledDragon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste is a cinnamon roll, Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Emotionally Isolated Marinette, F/M, Looks like a lot, Rated teen for super mild sweary-bois, The class realizes their errors, aspects of s3ep1 made me upset, based on S3EP1, i tried to make Wayhem a 3D character, i wrote this in like a day please go easy on me, iDK tho, lots of original fairy tale references, so i wrote about it, spoilers for s3ep1, we STAN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 18:17:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16837858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrazzledDragon/pseuds/FrazzledDragon
Summary: Marinette, isolated from her friends due to Lila, finally snaps.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The perspective will switch (kinda) every chapter! :)

Marinette knew Adrien was right. Antagonizing Lila was _not_ the best course of action. So she stopped trying to antagonize her. She simply pretended she didn’t know anything about the girl. She stopped calling her out for her lies, stopped trying to protect the people she thought were her friends, stopped caring. She let Alya interview her for the Ladyblog, let Nino take suggestions from her for date and music ideas. She let Lila teach Rose how to write music, let Juleka take selfies with Lila. She let Ivan share his music with her, Alix share her art with her. She let Nathanael and Marc share their books with her, let Kim complete mundane tasks for her. She let them all flock to her like mindless sheep. Chloe and Sabrina were some of the only people in the class to not associate with Lila Rossi, and if Marinette could have tolerated either of them for even the briefest of moments, she might not have broken at all.

Adrien was the only person she found she could be honest with. He understood her frustrations, but he wanted to help Lila. “A pathological liar,” Adrien had called her on more than one occasion. “She needs help.”

Marinette agreed, but she didn’t see why _they_ had to be the ones to help her. However, Adrien seemed less in favor of seeking professional help, “because she’ll lie her way out of their hands” so Marinette stopped caring about that, too.

So she goes to school, mutters maybe three words throughout the entire day, have lunch alone, then return to school and maybe say two words. Alya doesn’t talk to her much anymore, and everytime she does it is usually to yell at her for some mundane reason or another. She would go home, transform into Ladybug, glumly patrol the city with Chat, and if there were no akuma attacks, return home.

It wasn’t healthy, but it worked. For two whole months, she pulled off her fake normalcy. She had everyone fooled. She should have made it until the end of the school year. It was Alya who was the straw that broke the Ladybug’s back.

Marinette is in her room, doing homework in attempts to procrastinate seeing Chat again, who was beginning to worry and question what was wrong, when her phone rings.

“Hey, Alya,” Marinette says. “What’s up?”

“I can’t believe you!” Alya yells.

“What is it this time?” Marinette replies, her voice monotone. “Let me guess, I did something horribly awful.” She puts Alya on speaker, trying to continue doing her homework. Pretending that this is a normal call, just like what might have happened three months ago. The fantasy is not long-lived.

“You pushed Lila, who’s never been anything but nice to you, and you’ve been nothing but plain awful to, _down. The. STAIRS?_!” Alya shrieks. Marinette can feel her rage, but it doesn’t burn like it should. Doesn’t shame her anymore.

“I didn’t, Alya. I wouldn’t do that. You know better.” Before, she might have insisted that Lila is a huge liar and that there’s not a single shred of evidence that she did anything like what she’s being accused of, but now… She doesn’t care. She knows Alya doesn’t care either, which makes her chest ache.

“What are you saying, that Lila’s lying?! That’s _just_ like you! Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she’s on _crutches!_ She’s got scrapes and bruises all over her face-”

“Make-up,” Marinette tries half-heartedly, her eyes filling with tears. She holds her head in her hands, trying to crush the tears before they ever form.

“MAKE-UP?! What are you, stupid?! Who has the _time_ for that?! Only someone who’s guilty would be so defensive!”

Marinette shakes her head. “Okay.” Her voice breaks and she raises her head toward the ceiling, trying to stop her tears.

“I can’t _believe_ I was friends with scum like you! You’re… You’re horrible! What kind of villain _does_ something like that! You _know_ she’s got a bad wrist and now she can’t even walk! What’s your problem?! I think you’re just jealous and need attention so badly you’ll go every length to get it!”

“I know,” Marinette whimpers softly, knowing Alya is too mad to tell she’s crying. She hangs up on Alya, not wanting to hear another word. Alya calls her back a moment later, undoubtedly more angry than before, but she doesn’t answer this time. She'll get the entirety of her thoughts in text form anyway. Why bother hearing them aloud when she could just read them tomorrow?

But even this doesn’t stop what she’s already said echoing around her mind.

Tikki swarms her, trying to cheer her up, knowing the dangers of Marinette’s foul mood. There hasn’t been an akuma attack in several days, so the fact Marinette and Alya both are so upset is not a good sign. She tries to meet her holder’s eyes, but Marinette bats at her, before finally snapping.

“STOP!” She screams, glad her parents aren’t home. “I’m _DONE_.” She pulls her earrings out of her ears, tossing them on her desk. Tikki vanishes and the only sound she can hear is that of her heart breaking and her phone vibrating with texts, one after another after another.

She can hear the bell ring as her parents walk in, so she piles everything heavy on top of her hatch and sit in the middle of the floor, sobbing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one :)

Hawkmoth feels a shiver run through his entire body, the tell only the strongest of emotions could bring, so he searches. There’s another girl who’s upset, but not nearly as much so as the one who brought the onset of shivers. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” he chuckles with pleasure as he finally locates her. “Finally. One of the last to fall. Go, my little akuma, and become one with the poor, brave, strong girl who has been finally broken.”

The little butterfly dances across the sky, heading directly for Marinette and moments later, it slips into her cozy, pink room. It lands on one of her ribbons in her hair. 

“Pinocchio, my name is name is Hawkmoth.”

“First, that’s a  _ terrible _ name. I could do better in my sleep. You’re too predictable. Second, I know what you want and I wouldn’t get your hopes up with Ladybug,” Marinette intones, glaring straight ahead. “I killed her.” Not quite the truth, but not really a lie either. Marinette blinks. Hawkmoth doesn’t need to know the difference.

Hawkmoth blinks. He’s not used to his victims sassing him. Especially not while heartbroken. But he rolls with it, because despite the sass, the girl is still the most emotional of anyone he’s come across in  _ days _ . “I’m sure that’s not the case. The brat is pretty impressive at escaping death.  _ Fairytale _ , I’m granting you the ability to use any book characters at your whim. Become them or transform others into them, at any stage of their lives. Expose people for the wolves in sheep’s clothing that they are, wreak havoc on those who have wronged you. Have them eat poisoned apples or turn them into bogs, frogs, or rabbits. Every character had one fatal fault, but you are not like any one character. You are perfect. Bring me the miraculouses of any heroes you meet, and I will not intrude.”

“Why not? My day could not get any worse. Why not get victimized by a heartless asshole?”

Hawkmoth snorted indignantly, but dressed her in his costume of choice nonetheless.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short boi :D
> 
> They do get a little longer eventually I think

Plagg, who had been sleeping peacefully on Adrien’s bed, enjoying his stomach being full of camembert, when he  _ felt _ it. The Ladybug kwami was silenced. The holder had removed the earrings. The number of good reasons a holder would do that were few and many involved being under duress. 

“Oh swiss…” he murmurs, immediately flying to find Adrien.

“Oh, Plagg! I was just coming to ask you if you-”

“Adrien! The Ladybug kwami has been silenced!” Plagg interrupts, his face showing just how panicked he is. Adrien has never seen him so worried, not even for cheese.

“Oh shit,” he whispers. “What does that mean for us?”

“That means we need Master Fu as soon as possible!” Plagg yells. “As in, we need to leave. Right now. I’ll lead you there, but we’ve  _ got _ to  _ go!  _ There’s no time!”

Adrien’s phone buzzes suddenly; an alert from the news network. “There’s another akuma… Oh shit… Plagg, it’s Marinette!”

“Adrien, we  _ have _ to go to Master Fu! This isn’t an option! There’s nothing we can do for Marinette until we find the Ladybug miraculous and find her holder!”

“Right…” Adrien mutters, his heart heavy. He feels responsible for Marinette’s downfall for reasons he can’t explain. 


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette, Fairytale, smirks as she approaches Lila Rossi.

She will be first.

Marinette smooths her pale pink dress, careful not to cut the fabric with her four foot razor-sharp sword. “Lila Rossi.” Her voice is deep and resounds around the courtyard. All of her classmates turn toward her, realizing in mere moments who they were facing. There’s a chorus of ‘Marinette?!’s, but that is not her name. Not anymore. They should know that. They made Fairytale into what she is now. They are her origin story.

“Who are you?” Lila squeaks, Kim stepping in front of her to protect her.

“Don’t touch her! She’s done nothing wrong!” He growls. 

“Kim,” she purrs, her sword coming up above her head. “I dub thee Mulan, the one who fought for much and was left with nothing.” Her sword touches his shoulder, and suddenly he’s sobbing inconsolably.

“Lila,” she announces, her gaze snapping to Lila, who was in the process of ditching the cast and crutches. “I dub thee Pinocchio, the liar who could never escape the consequences of his words.”

“I don’t lie! I’m not a liar!” Lila yelps, but her nose grows in response to her words. Her head dips at the new weight. “I’m injured!” Her nose grows more. “Someone help me!”

Fairytale spins, scanning the frozen crowd with a grim and terrible smile. “I dub thee Snow White’s witch,” she yells, tapping her own shoulders with her sword. Her dress vanished and in her hands, instead of a sword, was an apple pie. Her next target would need a little finesse. She was excellent at finesse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A LITTLE longer… sorry :D

Adrien knocks on Master Fu’s door anxiously. He looks up as Master Fu opens the door.

“Ma-Mr. Adrien Agreste!” He greets, ignoring how badly he almost screwed up, instead focussing on the worry furrowing his blond brow. “What seems to be the trouble?”

“Master!” Plagg yells before he’s even in the door. “Tikki’s gone silent!”

“What?!” Master Fu exclaims, his shock clear.

“And there’s an akuma attack happening right now! People are getting hurt!” Adrien joins in.

“Master, the victim is Marinette,” Plagg says quietly. He knows the implications, even if Adrien doesn’t.

“She’s this really sweet girl in my class who’s been having a really hard time recently and I’ve been a bad friend, certainly not what’s she earned-”

“This complicates things… At least she had the foresight to remove them before she was akumatized… Very forward thinking of her...” Master Fu thinks aloud, then silently for a long moment. “You need to search her room.”

Adrien, not even realizing Master Fu had spoken at first, is rather alarmed as his brain processes what he said. “Search her room… As in, Marinette’s room? Why?”

Master Fu and Plagg share a quick look. 

“What aren’t you telling me?” Adrien demands, not quite angry but more worried and guilty. His phone goes off again, another update regarding the akuma attack.  _ High-schooler Alya Cesaire has been put into a coma and her classmate, Nino Lahiffe has been turned into a frog by a girl who’s calling herself Fairytale, witnesses report. _

“You mustn’t tell anyone, not even her, if you can help it.”

Adrien blinks. “Sure.”

“You must search Marinette’s room because I suspect you’ll find Ladybug’s earrings there.”

He blinks again. “Why?”

Master Fu cannot  _ believe _ the blinders this boy wears. He supposes it works to his advantage, though as he flawlessly lies, “Marinette and Ladybug share a room.”

“But I’ve been in her room. There’s only one bed.” Adrien  _ can’t  _ see Plagg, which is for the best as the kwami is miming pounding his head against the drywall. If he actually hit the drywall, the building would collapse, and Adrien’s thick-headedness isn’t  _ quite _ worth that level of property damage.

“She hides it whenever Ladybug’s not there. It’s a secret arrangement, and temporary. Ladybug was facing an emergency and Marinette was the best option for a place to hide.”

“So Marinette knows who Ladybug is?”

“No. Ladybug’s very careful to keep her identity hidden, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” 

Master Fu  _ can _ see Plagg, who is still miming pounding his head against the wall, and suddenly gets the urge to copy the small creature. 

“Oh… that does sound like her… I’m surprized she didn’t ask me!”

Master Fu just stares at Adrien. “Me too. Now, shoo. Go find the earrings and find a new holder. We just need a temporary one until Marinette is back to her normal self and can leave them in her room where Ladybug will know to find them. The longer she remains akumatized, the more convinced of Hawkmoth’s agenda she will become.”

“On it, Master!” Adrien galvanises into action. “Plagg, claws out!”

They leap away.


	6. Chapter 6

Fairytale hears Hawkmoth in her mind. “He has yet to appear. And Ladybug will not be making an appearance. I already told you. I killed her.”

_ Well, you need to find her miraculous then! I need both of them! _

“At this rate, you’ll be lucky if I get Chat’s, Hawkmoth. I haven’t seen any sign of him yet. Besides, I have many stories to finish and very little time. Eventually, you will have to retract my powers so you can rest.” 

As the words leave her mouth, she sees a black blur leap over the rooftops. He must know something, she realizes with something like satisfaction curling in her gut. “I just spotted a bad omen.”

_ Get that miraculous. _

__ “I dub thee Aladdin’s carpet,” she touches her sword to the rug beneath her feet, ignoring the frog, trapped in a yellow helmet marked with a spider. Hopping on the carpet as it rises from the ground, flying over the twins, who are unconscious on the floor with pinpricks in their fingers.

She flies for Chat Noir and her room.

Some part of her knows she will not capture his miraculous. He needs to win. She will make his life difficult, though. More difficult than she’s already made it, that is.


	7. Chapter 7

Chat Noir lands in her room, feeling a little like a creep. He scans the room, finding the earrings sitting on the desk a moment later with a sigh of relief. He has no idea who he trusts enough to be Ladybug, knowing all his close friends are already under her influence. He slips the earrings into his pocket. 

Soft footsteps land behind him. “Chat Noir,” she greets, and a shiver runs down Chat’s spine. She sounds so much like Marinette and so unlike her he can’t even believe his ears.

“Marinette,” he whispers, a little horrified. She’s wearing her gown, her crown, and her sword is pristine. She holds the giant slab of metal easily, as though it were lighter than a feather. There’s something decidedly unsettling about her image, though if someone were to ask him to pin the source of the feeling down, he wouldn’t be able to.

“Fairytale,” she corrects disinterestedly, examining her glittering sword, slowly approaching him. “My wrath is not for you, Chat Noir. You are like the second hound who chases down the fox in this tale.” Her dress flashes a brilliant orange, but only for a moment. “You are not at fault, but stand before the loaded gun nonetheless. My master begs your miraculous, and I will not be allowed to continue my revenge without your ring.”

Chat Noir swallows slowly, this perverted version of Marinette chilling him to his core. He never wants to see her, the sweet, caring, loving girl she is, twisted this way every again. He would make sure she never felt so hurt ever again as long as he lived.

“But I also need Ladybug. The only way I’ll get to her is through you.” Another step forward and Chat’s back is to the wall. “I dub thee Rapunzel.” She smirks as she steps back onto her hovering carpet.

“Good luck braiding. Find me the most beautiful in the land, Princess.” And she’s gone.

Chat Noir’s hair is still growing as she fades from view, longer and longer until he’s climbing long blond hair to get out of the skylight, and still it grows. He snags a pair of her fabric scissors, trying to cut it off, but the hair is indestructible.

As a last ditch effort, the hair paralyzingly heavy, he whispers, “Claws in.”

The hair, and Chat Noir, vanish in a flash of green. 

“Well, that was a hairy situation,” he mutters, collapsing to the ground. 

“This whole  _ day _ has been one hairy situation after another,” Plagg grumbles, searching Adrien’s jacket pockets for cheese. He doesn’t need it, but he wants it, and the destructive kwami has a hard time distinguishing between the two sometimes.

He feels in his pockets; he still has her earrings. “I need a Ladybug… who won’t question me or demand they keep the earrings once the mission’s done… Someone who has… a heart of gold, like Ladybug… and will work well with me.”

Then, it hits him.

“I’ve got it!” He yells, overjoyed. “I know who our temporary Ladybug will be!”

Plagg frowns. “It should take more thought than that. At  _ least _ , three more seconds of thought. Are you sure you can trust this girl?”

Adrien smirks. “It’s not a girl. And yes.”

“Oh boy,” Plagg groans, but follows Adrien out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

****

Wayhem is actually typing out an email to Adrien Agreste when he hears the knock on his front door. His mom is at work and his other mom is visiting friends. He’s home alone.

He gets up, tentatively looking through the peephole. His moms warned him against getting anywhere near the door when he wasn’t expecting anyone, but he is ever so glad he checked as he opens the door to Adrien Agreste himself.

“Adrien!” he greets happily, noticing his dire expression almost immediately. “Come on in, man… What’s wrong?”

Due to their frequent, friendly interaction over the past few months, his overwhelming enthusiasm in Adrien’s presence had somewhat chilled out. Adrien could safely be considered his friend, and as he had gotten to know him, the more fond and less obsessed over the model he had become. 

Adrien does not come in, though. He stands in the doorway, looking tense. “Are your moms home? Do you have your ears pierced?” Adrien’s voice tells him the question is important, even if the question itself does not. What worries Wayhem even more is the look in Adrien’s eyes that tell him, even if he doesn’t have his ears pierced, they were going to be pierced before either of them went to bed tonight.

“No? And yes?” Wayhem responds, more confused than anything. “I don’t normally wear earrings, because I lost most of mine, but yeah. My ears are pierced.”

Adrien finally enters, shutting the door behind him, clearly nervous. “Wayhem, I’ve got one hell of a favor to ask of you. You’re my best hope right now.”

Wayhem grins. He likes the sound of that.  _ Best hope _ . “What do you need? I’m up for anything.”

“The biggest thing I need is you to not ask me  _ any _ questions about why I have this thing I’m about to give you and just trust me. The second thing is I need you to give me this thing back when this is all over. Third, I need you to absolutely not tell another soul, living or dead about any of this when it’s all over.”

“That’s a lot to process,” Wayhem frowns momentarily. “You might have to remind me of some of them, but I think that’s manageable. I trust you. What’s this thing you’re giving me?”

“Wayhem, this is the miraculous of the Ladybug, the miraculous of luck and creation. You are to dawn the mantle of Ladybug to help me and Chat Noir defeat the latest akuma. You’ll capture and purify the akuma, then use your lucky charm to right the destruction to the city. Then you’ll return the miraculous to me.”

“Oh,” Wayhem breathes in awe, his hands gently cupping the earrings Adrien has placed in his palm. “I see why you made me promise not to ask questions, because I definitely have questions now.”

“You can’t tell anyone and you  _ have  _ to give me them back when this is done, okay? Will you help?”

“Yeah… Keep my trap shut and give them back when I’m done. Got it… And absolutely! Of course!” Wayhem’s intense eyes meeting Adrien’s. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll do my best.”

“Thanks, Wayhem. Put on the earrings.”

He slips the earrings in his ears. Tikki materializes in front of them, and Wayhem’s eyes get even wider. Tikki spins to see Adrien, and spins again to get a better look at Wayhem.

“It’s not permanent,” Adrien tells her earnestly. “This is my good friend, Wayhem. He’s going to be Ladybug until she gets back.”

His words seem to calm her, serving to orient her to her new environment. “Hi, Wayhem!” Tikki smiles. “My name is Tikki. I’m a kwami. I grant powers. I’m going to turn you into Ladybug, okay? You’re going to do great!”

“Hi…” He mutters, looking at Adrien. “You can see her too?”

“Yep.”

“I must be dreaming… Yeah, Tikki, that sounds good… How… How does this work?”

“If you want to activate my powers, you say ‘spots on’. When you want to use your lucky charm, you call ‘lucky charm’, but be careful, because five minutes after using your lucky charm, your suit vanishes. If you want to detransform, say ‘spots off’.”

“And Adrien mentioned something about capturing the akuma?”

“Yep. Just kinda throw your yoyo at the butterfly. Chat will help you find the item and the butterfly. I believe in you, Wayhem. I just know we’ll make a great team!”

Wayhem feels a little light-headed, his eyes fixed on the kwami. “Spots on?”

Then the transformation begins and he’s trying not to yell like Adrien asked but he’s so confused and it feels weird and suddenly it’s over. Adrien’s smiling at him, with a thumbs up, but he’s so confused. Then he turns to a mirror they have hanging on the wall and he just about loses his mind. 

He’s  _ Ladybug _ . Spots, yoyo, mask and everything. 

He looks  _ amazing _ .

“THIS IS AWESOME HOLY COW I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M LADYBUG! I - I mean… Let’s do this,” he grins at Adrien.

Adrien nods toward the balcony. “Meet me at the Eiffel Tower. I have a plan. I’m going to go get Chat Noir.”

“Sounds good.” And Wayhem, with an uncertain sort of yell, jumps off the balcony, yoyoing away.


	9. Chapter 9

Fairytale looks down on her victim. Chloe Bourgeois. For the first time in a long time, she isn’t particularly upset with Chloe. At least Chloe is honest. Chloe doesn’t have a friendship with her that she could ruin, unlike the vast majority of the rest of the class. 

“I dub thee Robin Hood. You steal from the rich to give to the poor.” And with the single tap, Chloe begins to dart around the room, snatching the most expensive things, before running toward the nearest homeless shelter.

Sabrina stands behind her, trembling. Marinette gazes down at her, undecided as to what she will be. She’s just about to make her mind up, when she catches a glimpse of a red blur clumsily swinging toward the Eiffel Tower. 

“I dub thee Cinderella, always cleaning for her master without pay or reward.” Sabrina begins to scrub the floor with vigor, and Fairytale hops on her magic carpet once more. She’s got her end of the deal to hold up. Afterall, fairytales are all about revenge, but they are also about keeping deals.

She flies toward the Eiffel Tower. 

When she arrives, a boy in the Ladybug costume is waiting there. Tall and slim, she realizes with some confusion that she doesn’t recognize this boy. Chat Noir would have only picked someone he knew, but there weren’t many people Chat Noir knew in costume that she didn’t also know in costume. “Hello,” she smiles at the boy, who’s clearly a little nervous. “It’s your first time, is it not?”

“Yes!” He says, trying to sound confident, his eyes darting around the courtyard, clearly looking for someone. 

“Are you waiting on our dearest Chat Noir?” She purrs, the sword delicately spinning her grip, making broad , sweeping circles. It narrowly avoids a runaway child, very nearly chopping it’s head off, much to the mother’s horror. “What is your name, sweetheart?”

“Ladybug,” he manages with some conviction. “What’s yours?”

“Fairytale, my sweet. Do you know why I’m here?”

“Probably for revenge.”

“Ooh, good boy! That’s what  _ I  _ want, but do you know what my master wants? For I am no more the master than you are.” She begins to slowly approach him. She decidedly doesn’t dislike the boy. He’s sweet, honest, and a little naive. Just like she was in the beginning.

“Probably not the same thing as you want.”

“True. And what do you suppose that is?”

“Why aren’t  _ you _ the master?” He asks suddenly, swinging his yoyo in his hands. He’s clumsy with it, as she doesn’t suppose he’s had it very long, but he  _ is  _ getting better. She has to stop him before he gets good, as per Hawkmoth’s orders. “You have essentially the same powers. You give anyone here powers. You’ve given yourself powers!”

“True, true, my pet, but you see, I cannot retract my powers like Hawkmoth can, and I am having  _ fun _ like this, for the first time in  _ months _ .” She let a creepy grin crawl across her face, showing just how much joy her havoc was giving her. “If I get your miraculous and I get Chat Noir’s miraculous, my deal will be complete. I will have shouted Rumplestiltskin’s name to the heavens and imp will tear himself in half!”

“Lucky charm!” He calls, a desperate look on his face. A ribbon lands in his hand.

Ladybug frowns now, not looking at her anymore, but his eyes are fixed on a point somewhere behind her. “Adrien?” He questions, and Fairytale suddenly  _ knows _ this isn’t what the plan was. “ADRIEN IT’S THE RIBBON!” His words don’t make much sense, so she ignores them in favor of the newcomer.

She spins to see Adrien Agreste confidently walking toward her. Even now, as she gazes at him, he doesn’t falter, his eyes fixed on hers. “Adrien Agreste,” she greets with some measure of surprize. “I’ve been looking all over Paris for that blond mop of yours. You deserve part of my wrath, you understand.”

“Ladybug, get someplace high!” Adrien yells suddenly, still getting closer to her with every step. Ladybug follows his orders, and Adrien begins to run toward her. “Marinette, I know you’re in there somewhere!”

“Doll, my name is Fairytale. This girl that you’re looking for? I’ve killed her.”

“No, you haven’t. You’re hiding her away, deep inside, because she’s got the purest heart of them all. She’s warm and kind and just and fair and  _ nobody _ in the past few months has bothered to tell her that she’s doing a good job! That people still care about her! That people still like her! That people still want to be on her side!”

Fairytale flinches as she realizes a tear is streaming down her cheek, unchecked and unchallenged. “This girl is dead,” she snarls. 

Adrien leaps at her, embracing her tightly. It’s so sudden that she doesn’t think to raise her sword. “You might want to close your eyes,” he says, grinning.

Fairytale does, or rather, Marinette, who trusts Adrien whole-heartedly, does and Fairytale just has to deal with it.

“Claws out,” he whispers, so quietly she can’t hear it. 

And Chat Noir, but more specifically, Chat Noir’s forty story long indestructible hair, traps Fairytale in the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Fighting the waves of the hair, remembering Ladybug’s words, he grabs at Fairytale’s beautiful ribbon, destroying it with a whispered “Cataclysm…” Followed by a loud, ”LADYBUG! YOU’RE UP!” as the butterfly has no problems flying out of the tangled mess.

Chat Noir hears the yoyo’s low whine as it is flung toward a target. Almost silently, he says, “Claws in.” Another moment later, he hears, “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

And Marinette and Adrien collapse in a heap on the ground, back to normal.

“Marinette,” he gasps with relief. “Are you okay?”

She looks at him, her bluebell eyes heavy. Then she begins to sob, heart-broken and terrified. She doesn’t lean for him, doesn’t reach for him, but he holds her anyway, wrapping his arms around her, silent.


	10. Chapter 10

An awkward cough comes from behind him, and Adrien turns to see Ladybug, then a pink flash later, Wayhem. The courtyard is empty, so there’s no one of any danger to see them anyways. Wayhem pulls the earrings out and hands them to Adrien. 

“Wayhem, I can’t thank you enough. You totally rocked it, dude. And figuring out where her akuma was… Thanks  _ so _ much, for all your help.”

“I didn’t really do anything, dude! Chat Noir didn’t even show up! You did everything, all by yourself!”

Adrien smiles, relieved. His identity is safe for another day. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Honestly. Thank you. I’ll remember this, you know. I will.”

Wayhem smiles softly in return. “I need to get going. If my moms get home and find out I played superhero for a day, they’ll never let me out of the house again.”

“See ya, man!”

“Bye, dude!”

Adrien turns his full attention to Marinette, who has stopped crying, but doesn’t look any less broken. “Hey,” he whispers, and she turns soulful eyes to him. “I need to apologize.” Her gaze falls from him, but a finger under her chin brings her gaze back to his. “I’ve been a bad friend. You deserve better. You are a good, honest, warm, cheerful, loving, caring,  _ real _ person. You deserve the world. And honestly? You’re right about most things. I see that now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were upset, I’m sorry you got so hurt by people who should be your friends. I’m sorry people were stupid enough to abandon you. I’m sorry  _ I _ was stupid enough to abandon you.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” she whimpers softly, tears streaming from her eyes again. “I needed to hear that. I’m sorry too.”

“What do you remember?” He asks gently, squeezing her in a hug. 

“I remember… feeling happy, for the first time in months… Does that make me a bad person?”

“Marinette, that makes you a victim, just like everyone else who has been akumatized. Emotions are Hawkmoth’s specialty. He can manipulate you to feel whatever serves his purpose best, once he has you under his control.”

That seems to calm her fears, and she takes a deep breath. “I suppose I should go apologize to everyone… I attacked most of our class. I turned Kim into Mulan… Lila into Pinocchio…”

Adrien laughs, and squeezes her again. “Personally, I think that’s karma at its finest. They were shitty to you for a long time; they deserve a couple hours of discomfort for that. If it’d make you feel better to apologize, though, I’d be glad to help in whatever way I can.”

Marinette smiles. “I’m glad you see it that way too. But I should go apologize all the same.” They climb to their feet, Adrien’s arm comfortably wrapped around Marinette’s shoulders, holding her close to his side. She finds she doesn’t mind at all.

“What… if you don’t mind my asking, that is… made you so upset?”

“Lila told Alya I pushed her down the stairs, breaking her leg and getting her all cut up and bruised,” Marinette tells him a little ashamedly. “I didn’t do any such thing, of course. I haven’t spoken a foul word of Lila since that day she was akumatized into Chameleon, much less done anything to physically harm her. But Alya believed her more than me. I mean, I left my phone at home, but you can read all the awful texts I’m sure she sent me after I hung up on her if you want. It just was the straw to break the camel’s back, I guess.”

Adrien shakes his head in disbelief. “Alya is pretty inconsistent, isn’t she?”

“Yeah… I hope she figures it out, in the end. That Lila lies. Not for me, you understand… Just in general.”

“Will you be waiting for her when she does?” He inquires thoughtfully. 

“Probably,” Marinette grins ruefully. “I like Alya, you know? When she’s not got her head on backwards, she’s a good person. And she puts up with my ridiculousness, you know? Not everyone can tolerate me like she can.”

“You’re amazing, Marinette,” Adrien whispers softly, pausing for a moment. “I just… I can’t imagine going to school without you there. You’re so positive and forgiving and honest and bright… It just… It wouldn’t be the same. The school needs more people like you. Our Everyday Ladybug.” He grins suddenly, as though he’s made up his mind. “Do… Do you want to go get dinner sometime? And maybe see a movie? Just the two of us?”

Marinette’s smile positively  _ glows _ . “Yeah… I’d love to.”

Adrien walks with her the entire time, as she finds every last person she targeted and personally apologizes to them. Most of them have an apology of their own for her, which she gratefully accepts. Adrien hasn’t seen her smile like she is now in a long time.

Nino, who was unfortunately turned into a frog, is one of the last people she goes and sees. She apologizes, but he apologizes too. Apologizes for everything, for ditching her, for disbelieving her. He tells her about how by the time the lucky charm fixed everything, Lila’s nose was over ten feet long. At one inch per lie, ten feet was pretty indicative.

People understand, now. The class believes her again. Marinette has tears in her eyes.

Finally, Marinette wanders toward the Cesaire household. Adrien doesn’t understand why she could possibly be wanting to apologize to someone who had said such awful things to her, but Marinette continues walking anyways.

When she knocks on the door, Adrien can hear chaos on the other side. “Marinette, I’m really not sure this is a good-”

“Shh, it’ll be fine-”

“Marinette?” Alya’s soft voice answers.

“Alya,” Marinette greets cordially.

The two girls stand there, staring at each other for a long moment. Then Alya’s eyes fill with tears and she throws her arms around Marinette. “I’m  _ so  _ sorry!” She sobs, over and over and over. Marinette hugs her back, looking up at Adrien. 

_ I told you so _ , her gaze seems to say. Adrien just smiles incredulously. 

“I know. Me too,” Marinette whispers, rubbing Alya’s back.

“No, I mean it. I was  _ awful _ to you and you never deserved any of it! You proved it! Lila was lying about  _ everything _ ! Nino said some other kids videotaped Lila! She was lying about  _ all  _ of it! I was a terrible person and an even worse friend!... I’m so  _ sorry _ !”

“I know. I’m prepared to forgive you, on one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Please,  _ never, _ tell me I’m just jealous any time I have a problem with someone. That may be part of it, but that’s never all of it and minimizing my problems is rude and unfair. I don’t do that to you and I don’t want you to do that to me again.”

“I promise,” Alya says earnestly, wiping her tears away.

“Then I forgive you,” Marinette smiles.

“I’m so sorry!” Alya yelps again, her eyes earnest.

“Let’s put it behind us.”

“Yes.” Alya just then seems to notice Adrien’s presence. “Hi Adrien.”

“Hey, Alya,” he smiles, waving. Then a cheeky look passes over his features and he glances down at Marinette. “Did you hear that Marinette gave Chat Noir Rapunzel’s hair?”

“POWER MOVE!” Alya grins.


End file.
